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City of Dickinson offers to manage Stark County Fairgrounds marketing in $200,000-per-year, three-year contract
Summary
City Administrator Dustin Dossinger and Marketing Director Carter Fong proposed a three-year, $200,000-per-year contract to provide marketing, scheduling and event coordination for the Stark County Fairgrounds. Commissioners expressed interest but raised concerns about advertising funding, 2026 budget alignment and staffing timing.
Dustin Dossinger, City Administrator for the City of Dickinson, told the Stark County Park Board Dec. 2 that the city is offering a three-year service contract to provide marketing, promotion and event scheduling for the Stark County Fairgrounds at $200,000 per year.
Dossinger said the city would provide full-service marketing and centralized booking, add one full-time event and marketing coordinator plus a seasonal support position, and produce monthly and annual performance reports to the Park Board. “The City of Dickinson proposes to provide full service marketing, promotion, event scheduling, and public communication support to the Stark County Fairgrounds under a 3 year service contract at a rate of $200,000 per year,” he said.
Board members welcomed the proposal’s intent to increase bookings and regional visibility but repeatedly flagged budget and implementation questions. Commissioners and staff asked whether the city’s staffing would replace or require existing county seasonals; Dossinger said city staff would be city employees and existing seasonal employees could apply for those roles. Commissioners also noted the city’s staffing proposal does not include the advertising and event production budgets the county would need to fund for the plan to work.
Several commissioners said the $200,000 annual price tag is larger than they expected and that the county’s 2026 budget did not include an amount for expanded promotion. One commissioner summarized the concern bluntly: it is “hard to buy the car without the gas,” meaning staffing alone would not be effective without dedicated funds for advertising and events.
Board members asked the city to provide a short written summary and supporting estimates; Dossinger said the city would follow up with documentation and indicated some elements — hiring and training staff, and staging costs across years — could be staggered to reduce first-year impact. The board placed the item on the next meeting agenda for further review and directed staff to circulate the city’s packet materials to commissioners prior to that meeting.
Next steps: the city will submit written materials and the Park Board will revisit the proposal at its next regular meeting to decide whether to proceed with contract drafting and potential County Commission review.
